Add Larry Summers to the list of those who think the U.S. tax system needs a makeover, and fast. “It’s not viable to continue for five more years with the tax system we now have,” the Clinton-era Treasury secretary and former director of the Obama White House’s National Economic Council said on CNBC Friday morning. [...]

Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney’s comments last night that there is “no immediate need to increase interest rates” raised questions about the worth of forward guidance, setting the scene for Friday’s WEF panel on the future of monetary policy with Larry Summers.

3:02 am (EST)

Larry Summers to talk on the future of monetary policy

Sara Sjolin

Major central banks have been embarking on aggressive easing programs to rebuild broken economies. But what’s up next as the global outlook improves?

“The Future of Monetary Policy” panel picks the brains of prominent players: Larry Summers, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary who was once a leading contender to become chairman of the Federal Reserve; Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor of the Bank of Japan; George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer; Alexandre Tombini, covernor of the Central Bank of Brazil; and Thomas Jordan, chairman of the Governing Board at the Swiss National Bank.

BOE chief Mark Carney’s comments last night at Davos have put forward guidance, and how useful it is to set benchmarks, in the spotlight, so we’ll be watching for any response to this.

But more broadly, around the world, central banks have taken different approaches to monetary policy, and there may be hints as to whether they’ll stay on their respective courses.

The biggest central banks are on a range of tacks: The U.S. has kick-started its much anticipated tapering process, while the euro zone has committed to accommodative measures for “an extended period” of time, and Japan is sticking to ultraloose policy. Meanwhile, the U.K. is trying to steer the markets through forward guidance, which critics say is not working as intended.

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Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers urged Washington to focus on policies that will grow the economy, saying it’s been a decade since the U.S. has grown “at a rapid rate in a remotely healthy and sustainable way.”